Cursor vs GitHub Copilot

The verdict — based on published data

These are two different bets. Copilot adds AI to the editor you already use; Cursor replaces your editor with an AI-first one. On published data, Copilot's free plan is the more transparent of the two — 2,000 completions a month plus a credit allowance, stated outright — while Cursor does not publish its free Agent/Chat limits at all. Cursor's cheapest paid step is lower ($8/month) but restricts you to Grok models; Copilot Pro is $10/month.

Who should pick which

If you…	Pick	Why
You want to keep your current editor	GitHub Copilot	It is an extension for VS Code, JetBrains, Visual Studio, Neovim and Eclipse. Cursor means switching to a new editor.
You want an agent-first editor	Cursor	The whole application is built around the agent, with a CLI and cloud agents under the same subscription.
You are comparing free plans	GitHub Copilot, on transparency	Copilot publishes its free allowance (2,000 completions/month plus AI Credits). Cursor's free limits are unpublished, so there is no way to budget them from public data.
You are buying for a team on GitHub	GitHub Copilot	Business is $19/seat/month with per-seat billing inside the GitHub ecosystem; Cursor Teams starts at $30/seat/month.

Side by side

	Cursor	GitHub Copilot
Free tier	Yes — limited Agent/Chat requests (limits not published)	Yes — 2,000 completions/mo + AI Credits allowance
Entry paid plan	$8/mo (Plus, Grok models only)	$10/mo (Pro)
Form	Standalone editor, CLI, cloud agents	IDE extension, CLI, web & mobile
Platforms	Windows · macOS · Linux · Cursor CLI · Cloud agents	VS Code · JetBrains IDEs · Visual Studio · Neovim · Eclipse · Copilot CLI · GitHub web & mobile
Hands-on test	Hands-on test: scheduled	Hands-on test: scheduled

Pricing compared

Cursor pricing

Free	$0
Plus	$8/mo
Premium	$30/mo
Super	$100/mo
Ultra	$200/mo
Teams	from $30/seat/mo

Free: Limited Agent and Chat requests; exact limits not published
Plus: New-user plan from Oct 12, 2026 — Grok models only

GitHub Copilot pricing

Free	$0
Pro	$10/mo
Pro+	$39/mo
Max	$100/mo
Business	$19/seat/mo
Enterprise	$39/seat/mo

Free: 2,000 completions/mo + an AI Credits allowance; auto model selection only
Pro: 1,500 AI Credits included
Pro+: 7,000 AI Credits included
Max: 20,000 AI Credits included
Business: Team plan
Enterprise: Team plan

Prices read from the official pricing pages on October 22, 2026 — see each tool's profile for sources. This category reprices often; check before buying.

Free tiers compared

Cursor — Free

A limited number of Agent requests and Chat requests — the vendor does not publish the exact limits
The full editor and its agent features, on the free plan

GitHub Copilot — Copilot Free

2,000 code completions per month
An allowance of AI Credits for chat and agent features, drawn from the same pool
Model choice on the free plan is limited to automatic selection
Requires a GitHub account

Head-to-head test results

Benchmark scores: pending. Both tools are in the queue for our frozen-repo benchmark (same tasks, default settings, free tier, scored by unit tests — see How We Test). Until those runs are complete, everything on this page is based on published vendor data only, and no hands-on score is shown for either tool.

How we test →

Editor model: add-on vs replacement

Copilot is an add-on — it meets you in your existing IDE and keeps your setup, keybindings and extensions where they are. Cursor is a replacement: a standalone editor forked from VS Code, designed around its agent. Neither model is objectively better, but they have very different switching costs, and that — not features — is the first decision to make.

Free tier: published limits vs unpublished limits

Copilot Free states its allowance: 2,000 completions per month plus an AI Credits allowance for chat and agent features, with model choice limited to automatic selection. Cursor's Free plan includes Agent and Chat requests in limited numbers that the vendor does not publish. If you plan to evaluate both on free plans, Copilot's budget is the one you can plan around.

Pricing structure: credits vs tiers

Copilot meters paid usage in AI Credits (Pro $10/month includes 1,500; Pro+ $39 includes 7,000; Max $100 includes 20,000), so heavy agent use draws down a visible pool. Cursor sells tiered plans whose main lever is model access: the $8 Plus tier is limited to Grok models, and fuller access starts at Premium ($30/month). Note that Cursor's older Pro ($20) and Pro+ ($60) tiers closed to new sign-ups on October 12, 2026 — comparisons citing them are out of date.

Platform reach

Copilot covers five IDE families, a CLI, and GitHub's web and mobile apps — the broadest surface in this comparison set. Cursor covers its own editor on Windows, macOS and Linux, plus a CLI and cloud agents. If your team is split across JetBrains and VS Code today, only Copilot covers both without an editor change.

Frequently asked questions

Is Cursor or Copilot cheaper?

The cheapest paid step is Cursor's Plus at $8/month, but it is limited to Grok models. Copilot Pro is $10/month with 1,500 AI Credits included. On free plans, Copilot publishes its limits (2,000 completions/month plus credits) while Cursor does not publish its free Agent/Chat limits.

Did Cursor change its pricing in 2026?

Yes. On October 12, 2026 Cursor closed the older Pro ($20/month) and Pro+ ($60/month) tiers to new sign-ups and moved new users to Plus ($8), Premium ($30), Super ($100) and Ultra ($200). Existing subscribers keep the old tiers.

Can I use Copilot inside Cursor, or Cursor inside VS Code?

The products are structured differently: Copilot is an extension that installs into editors such as VS Code and JetBrains IDEs, while Cursor is a standalone editor of its own. Choosing between them is first a decision about whether you change editors at all.

Which one is better for teams?

On published pricing, Copilot Business is $19 per seat/month inside the GitHub ecosystem, while Cursor Teams starts at $30 per seat/month. Which fits better depends on whether your team standardizes on GitHub and on how much your workflows depend on an agent-first editor.